AWAKENING THE STORIES WITHIN US

On 1/1/06, I lost my brother, sister-in-law & nieces in a random home invasion. My brother and I had always been great lovers of trees-partially because we’d grown up on army posts and never had many trees around our houses. One of the reasons they had bought this house in their neighborhood was because of the beautiful Chestnut trees in their backyard (trees that they unfortunately lost during Hurricane Isabelle). When I was trying to decide what to do for their headstone, it just seemed right that I would make a tree part of the stone. It had to encompass all of their names as well as their birth dates. Once it was done, the tree offered its leaves to shade and protect the memory of their lives and the 4 swallows flying up to the sky. On the back of the headstone, we quoted the last Beatles’ song “The End”….and in the end, the love you take is equal to the love you make”…..it was all appropriate for my brother, a musician, and lover of trees. Trees now represent family,
love, strength and inspiration to me.